Education utility

ABSTRACT

A system for distributing educational information in digital form to a plurality of schools simultaneously transmits the information via a satellite (15) to FM stations (18) which retransmit to schools having receivers for receiving the information and a main computer (101) for storing the information. Access to the information is subsequently provided to a plurality of students via classroom computers (111) and individual terminals (121). Usage and performance data is automatically stored in the main computer (101) and sent to the sender by dial-up modem (105) to keep track of usage and to permit billing usage and royalty charges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to information distribution in general and moreparticularly to a method of distributing educational material over awide area, hereinafter referred to as the Education Utility.

Present methods of distributing educational material whether it be inthe form of books, films, video tapes, computer programs or other typesof material are relatively expensive and inefficient. Very often,material, particularly in the case of textbooks, for example, may be outof date before it reaches the classroom.

There has been a great deal of emphasis on the use of computers in theeducational process in recent years. There are a number of aspects tothe use of computers in education. One aspect is the use of computers toaid in the educational process through the use of educational software.A second use of computers is in the familiarization of students with theuse of computers and utility-type computer programs, for example, theuse of financial spread sheet programs, word processing, text editing,etc. which they may have to use later on in their careers in business.This is sometimes referred to as computer literacy. Finally, there isthe training, which is given in some instances, in programming ofcomputers to teach the students how to write and develop their ownprograms.

For the most part, computer use in schools has been throughmicrocomputers. Each individual microcomputer requires, in addition toits own keyboard and display a storage device such as a tape or discdrive. If a computer is to be provided for each student in a classroom,this arrangement must be duplicated for each student. The disc drives,in particular add to the initial cost and to maintenance problems andcosts. Furthermore, the use of these separate computers requires a greatmany duplicate copies of the programs which are to be used. This furtherincreases the cost and in many cases leads to an unlawful copying ofsoftware also making it virtually impossible logistically to modify orupdate software or courseware once it is distributed. This removes someof the incentive for programmers to develop good software for use incomputer-aided instruction.

This brings up another problem. It is presently very difficult foreducators to evaluate the value of any given software package for use incomputer-aided instruction. Very little data is available on the use andsatisfaction of others.

Television has come into some use in the schools primarily througheducational channels in which educational material is broadcast over theair to the various schools. Little has been done however to integratethis with other instructional material such as computer-aidedinstruction.

Thus, although technology has made available various tools which can aidin the educational process, these tools have not been efficiently used.The need to apply this available technology to the educational system,that is to say, the need for an educational utility which willdistribute educational material to schools just as present publicutilities distribute electricity, gas, water, telephone services and thelike becomes evident. In such a system, the ability to provideup-to-date information should be available as well as the ability toaccount for the use of information so that the creators of thecourseware be it in the form of film, video tape, software or whateverare properly compensated for their endeavors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides such an educational utility. It permitsdistribution of courseware to a large area, essentially the wholecountry, simultaneously, at low cost and high speed. Films, video tapes,computer programs, computer-aided instruction, textual information andthe like can all be converted into a form which can then be transmittedover the air. Various courseware and filmware can be combined for muchgreater effectiveness and interaction e.g., video with text.

Transmission of the information is done using existing satellite, FMradio and television facilities. In the case of some of the facilitiessuch as television this is preferably done during the night when thesefacilities are not otherwise being used.

Information, be it in the form of digital data or video information,e.g. a televised film, video tape lecture, etc. is transmitted from anup-link station to a satellite. The digital data is transmitted from thesatellite to an FM radio station which transmits this data using SCA[Subsidiary Channel Authorization], a type of side band transmissionauthorized by the FCC. FM SCA transmission is only given as an example.Other forms of broadcast may be used for transmitting this data. Videoinformation is either transmitted directly from the satellite to a dishantenna at the school or preferably through a local TV station to theindividual schools. Along with each type of information beingtransmitted are address codes of a conventional nature. The structuringof the codes may vary according to circumstances. For example an addresscode can be used to indicate whether the school is an elementary school,middle school or high school and only the information relevant to thatparticular type of school will be enabled to be received. In addition,schools can subscribe to different types of services and the addresscodes established so that only the material to which they subscribe willbe received. Both group codes and individual codes may be used. Data canbe directed to a group of schools or individual schools: addressing toan individual student is a part of the education utility method.

A school which is addressed, will receive the digital data which will beloaded into mass storage in a central computer for the school. If videodata is being supplied it can be stored on a video storage medium, e.g.,in a delayed video program device, a device where it is available forfuture use. One type of device which may be used for this purpose has acapacity of up to 20 one hour cassettes. Of course other forms ofstorage such as disk storage may be used.

A typical school installation will include a main computer which hasassociated with it a main storage device, e.g., a large hard disc. Onthe hard disc, all of the digital information which the main computerhas received will be stored. It will of course, take a period of time tobuild up a complete library of information on the main computer. Oncethe basic library is built up, daily updating will take place.Associated with the main computer will typically be a high speedprinter, such as an ink jet or laser printer permitting making hardcopies of the various textual material which is stored. Also associatedwith the main computer is a modem connected to a dial-up telephone lineand remotely activated for transmitting usage information back to themain office automatically, preferably at night. The main computer alsoprovides control inputs for the delayed video program cassette or othervideo memory device, if installed.

Coupled to the main computer are a plurality of classroom computerstypically one for each classroom. Classroom computers are smallercomputers and take, out of the full library of data and other software,the data which the particular teacher in that classroom wishes to useover a period of time. Each classroom is also optionally provided with atelevision display device connected by a coaxial cable or fiber opticsto the video storage device. This may be a television set or preferablya video projector.

Each classroom computer supports a plurality of intelligent terminals ormicrocomputers at student desks. The students thus have access to theprograms in the classroom computer. The student terminals may bespecially constructed terminals or may comprise preexistingmicrocomputers, e.g., personal computers, equipped with an interfacewhich permits accessing the classroom computer and its associatedstorage device rather than the disc drive which would normally beassociated with the personal computer. The interface and software aremade secure so as to prevent duplication of the software. The classroomcomputer is adapted to keep track of the number of students using aparticular software package as well as their performance with thecourseware at every juncture and provides this information back to themain computer. This usage and performance information along with theusage information with respect to the video storage device which is alsokept in the main computer if video is also provided, is periodicallytransmitted through the modem and telephone line back to the main officefor accounting purposes. This allows charges to be made for softwarerental, copyright royalties, as well as madk possible instant fieldtesting, modifying or updating software and/or courseware.

The system of the present invention has numerous advantages. In terms ofproviding computing resources to the school, it provides these at lowcost. In addition to the ability to receive computer-aided instructionprograms, each of the student terminals is capable of accessing variousutility programs to aid in computer familiarity and is able to be usedto create a student's own programs. The school can create its ownsoftware to be stored in the main computer for which special chargeswill not be made.

In comparison to some distributed systems now in use which utilizetelephone links, interactive processing can take place without incurringtransmission costs.

Along with the provision of educational material, the system alsoprovides the capability to provide electronic mail services, bulletinboards, computer conferencing and so on. Since any necessarycommunications between schools can be carried out in hours when chargesare low, e.g., at night, the costs are kept low. Also whole batches ofinformation are transmitted at one time, further keeping costs low.Thus, each school, in addition to getting educational material from thesystem can receive electronic mail from other schools or, for example,state education authorities. Announcements can be made by bulletin boardand so forth. To send a message to another facility, one uses thetelephone link during off-hours. In other words, outgoing messages areprepared during the day and stored in the main computer. At the assignedtime, the telephone link is remotely and automatically establishedthrough the modem and all messages sent to the main computer center [oran intermediate computer center, or, the local FM station].

The system provides a secure form of software rental without the risk ofpiracy as now occurs when discs are used. It permits delivering andstoring data bases in schools in a particularly efficient manner and theability to keep all software in the school updated without manualintervention by the school.

The need for floppy discs and the problems associated therewith areavoided since all software is accessible from the main computer at allterminals. Since this software can be loaded into each individualterminal, it is possible for the software to be used individually ateach terminal. Thus, if the nature of its use is such that the wholeclass goes along together that can be done. However, it is also possiblefor each student to work at his own pace on other types ofcomputer-aided instruction or programs.

Because the system has an ability to also provide audio and visualinformation stored on a video storage device, along with providing thedigital information to the computer, which information may in many casessimply be textual material or a series of questions, the materialdelivered to the computer can be integrated with video material therebymaking the courseware provided at each individual terminal interactivewith the televised films, video storage devices or telelectures providedto the whole class. Thus for example, with the addition of video, apresentation can be given on the screen and at the same time pertinentquestions asked on the terminal which the student can answer during thepresentation or after it is over using the student terminal. This typeof interactive instruction can be particularly useful and goes beyondwhat the computer or television presentation alone can do.

The system in addition to keeping track of royalties so that the schoolsmay be billed and the creators compensated based on use, also has theinherent ability to keep track of student and teacher performance anduse. This information is particularly useful in evaluating the qualityof the courseware.

The system also permits taking advantage of the latest current events,software, data bases, educational services and so forth essentiallyinstantly. Presently, the distribution of new software over a wide areacan be quite time-consuming. With the Education Utility, as soon as thesoftware is ready, it can be transmitted throughout the country bysatellite and be available the same day to every school. This ability iseven more important in terms of current events, developments or changeswhich take place.

The system also provides the ability to create and/or provideadministrative services and teacher curriculum and training materialwhen and where needed. Once a school is wired for the present system, itis available to accept essentially any new video educational service orproduct without additional hardware.

The system of the present invention provides a complete internal andexternal telecommunications system for the school. The ability toprovide electronic mail outside the school was noted above. However, thesystem can also provide electronic mail within the school withinformation being entered at the main computer and distributed to theclassrooms and if desired to student terminals. If a large screen videodisplay is provided, the teacher's console or students terminal canprovide information such as bulletin board information or computergraphics etc., through a modulator to the large screen display in theclassroom when it is desired to present information to the whole class.This is also useful to give a programming demonstration or the like.

The system also provides benefits to the community as a whole. Afterschool hours, the facilities can be used for retraining, continuingeducation and adult education. In addition, if desired the system can beexpanded to permit access by home computers via telephone or cablesystems.

The system can also provide an on-site disposable book or educationalpublishing system. Through the system, text material can be transmitted,stored in the main store and then, after word processing or textediting, if necessary, printed out on a high speed printing device andduplicated as necessary. This will permit educators to construct theirown books and papers by going into storage and retreiving all pertinentmaterial. The gathering editing, with translating if necessary, andelectronic delivery of current information will all be part of theEducational Utility services provided to subscribers. For example, theEducational Utility can have correspondents throughout the worldreporting on scientific developments. These scientific developments willbe reported over the Educational Utility and will become part of thedata base. When teachers are about to teach on a particular subject theycan retrieve from the appropriate data base the necessary materialincluding the most up-to-date reports and include them in their textwhich will be distributed to the class. Appropriate royalty paymentswill be made to the creators of the material.

The system also permits delivery of software for preview and approval orcomments. When a new type of software is developed, it can be sent outon approval to a few test schools and once the results are obtainedimmediately distributed widely if the results warrant. In addition, whennew software is distributed it can be sent out cost-free for a shortperiod to allow subscribers to preview it before they must start paying.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the satellite, FM and TV distributionsystem.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the receivers and processing anddecoding.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the computer system and its distributionthroughout the school.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, the general arrangement ofthe system of the present invention. At a main office 11, theinformation which is to be distributed over a wide area, which, forexample, could include all of the United States, is formated and codedas necessary with address codes and transmitted via a transmittingantenna 13 to a satellite 15. In conventional fashion, the informationis retransmitted from the satellite 15. The information sent to thesatellite will include digital information and may also includetelevision information, i.e., video and audio. The digital or computerinformation is transmitted by the satellite to a dish antenna 17 at anFM station 18 from which it is retransmitted from an antenna 19, on anFM SCA sideband.

This method of transmission is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No.4,417,349 and is also described in patent application No. 483,737, nowabandoned and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,454. These last two applicationsdescribe portions of a system capable of transmitting at a particularlyhigh rate of 9600 baud. This is the preferred system for use with thepresent invention.

The video information, if used, may be transmitted to a dish antenna 21at a TV station 23 from which it is retransmitted by transmitter 25.Alternatively, it can be transmitted directly to a dish antenna 27 at aschool 29 which has, in addition to the antenna 27, an FM antenna 31. Inthe case of transmission from the television station 25, a school 31 hasa TV antenna 33 and an FM antenna 31. Thus, with the additional use oftelevision transmission, in either case, the school can obtain bothaudio and visual information, which can then be stored on a videostorage device, at the same time as it obtains the digital computerinformation which is stored in computer memory for use in the future. Asindicated previously, such transmissions typically take place during thedark hours when many stations are not in use.

Information concerning usage, electronic mail, etc. is sent back to themain office from the school 31 by a phone line 37. The information maybe sent to the local FM station 18 in addition to or in place of sendinginformation to the main office.

The SCA signal from the antenna is received in an FM receiver 41 asillustrated in FIG. 2. From the receiver, the signal is coupled throughsubcarrier detectors, filters 43 and a decoder and processor 44. Thismay be, for example, a microprocessor. If the information being receivedhas an address corresponding to the address of the particular receivingstation, the digital data appears on line 45 for transmission to a mainstorage area in a main computer.

If the system is also so adapted, video and audio information isreceived by a TV receiver 47 and the video and audio signal, afterprocessing through the receiver, coupled over a line 49 to a switch 51and to a decoder 53. Associated with each transmission is an addresscode which must be decoded in decoder 53 to close the switch 51. Inaddition, scrambling may be used and a de-scrambler 55 is provided,enabled by an output from decoder 53. Finally, the signal reaches a DVPor delayed video program cassette device 57. One such device has acapacity of up to 20 cassettes each of one-hour length. Devices usingconventional two hour VHS cassettes, for example, may also be used. Itis in effect a library which can store a number of programs and by meansof a selection input 59 select one of them as an output on line 60.

The system can of course be expanded to provide selection of more thanone cassette and more than one output. The signal from decoder 53enables the cassette device to begin recording a video program which isbeing transmitted for storage. At the same time, information istransmitted over the SCA channel to identify and give a synopsis of thevideo program being transmitted. In addition, if there is any othercourseware accompanying the video, that too could be transmitted at thesame time, e.g. via FM SCA. The delayed video program device can also beset to cause one of the tapes to be erased so as to always have a tapeready to receive a transmission. Although the cassettes are typicallyone-hour cassettes, a series of shorter presentations can be stored onthe tape with a preceding code, similar to the address code whichallowed the material to be received in the first place. Through such acode, a portion of a particular video tape may be selected to betransmitted over the line 60 to classroom.

FIG. 3 shows the general arrangement of the various computers within theschool. At a central location is a main computer 101 with an associatedmain store 103. This is a large capacity storage means, e.g., a harddisk, capable of storing the necessary courseware, programs data bases,etc. The main computer 101 receives serial input over the line 45 fromthe processor and decoder of FIG. 2. If the system is so equipped, itprovides an output on line 59 to make a selection of the DVP cassettesin accordance with requests from various parts of the school. Optionallyassociated with the main computer is a high speed printer 104 e.g., anink jet or laser printer which permits making hard copies of thecourseware material. This in effect, permits the equivalent of textbooksor parts of textbooks to be transmitted, printed and duplicated in theschool to allow the course material to be maintained in a currentcondition at all times. Furthermore, it permits teachers to tailor theircourse material, selecting from different sources stored in thecomputer.

Also associated with the main computer is an auto-dial modem 105 bymeans of which information concerning usage, electronic mail, etc. canbe fed back over the telephone line 37.

The main computer 101 supplies a plurality of classroom computers 111.Whereas the main computer 101 is typically a main frame ormini-computer, its prime requirement is that it have a large memory. Theclassroom computers may be microcomputers with a relatively large memorysuch as hard disc drives 113 of a capacity of, e.g., 5 to 10M bytes.Bubble memory may be used instead of disk drives. Information istransferred from the main computer memory to the classroom computermemories either under the control of the main computer or in response toa request from a teacher entered at a teacher console 115. The teacherconsole 115 includes a video display 117 and keyboard 119 to communicatewith the classroom computer.

The system is capable of distributing software from the main computersimulataneously to a plurality of the computers 111. Similarly, thecomputers 111 can distribute software to the various student terminals121 each of which terminals include a video display 123 and keyboard 125with its own processor and, e.g., 32 to 64K of memory. These terminalscan be custom devices or may comprise pre-existing mini-computers orpersonal computers such as the Apple, IBM, Commodore, Atari, etc. Suchcomputers normally access a floppy disc to obtain their programinformation. In accordance with the present invention, each is providedwith the necessary interface adapter so that the disc operating systemwill access the classroom computer's storage rather than a dedicatedfloppy disc.

In addition, in each classroom, one classroom being indicated by thearea within the dotted lines 125, there may be a video display 127, forexample a video projector. If such is installed, the teacher's console,can be coupled to the video projector through a modulator 129, forexample, so as to permit teachers to display to the whole classroom whatthey have on their unit. This can be useful in teaching programming ordisplaying bulletin board messages and the like. Each of the classroomcomputers is programmed to keep track of usage by the student terminalsof the various programs and to feed this information back to the maincomputer which keeps a record of overall usage within the school forcharging and royalty purposes.

As described above, the main computer receives information from the FMSCA data transmission. However, other means of information input canalso be used such as high-speed data extracted from an incomingtelevision signal, local disc, optical data disc and so on. More thanlikely when building up the initial data base, a physical delivery ofdiscs to the individual schools will prove more efficient thantransmitting all information over the air.

As also noted above, the main computer and, for that matter classroomcomputers can utilize other software not provided by the EducationUtility. Furthermore, the main computer, classroom computers andterminals can comprise pre-existing equipment so that if a school hasalready invested in equipment it is not made obsolete by the EducationUtility but only provided with an extended capability as far as sourcesof information are concerned.

As indicated, it is believed that a classroom computer with a storagecapacity of, for example, 5 to 10 megabytes, expandable as necessary, issufficient. The manner in which it is used in the present system is whatis often referred to as a local area network file server. The teacher'sconsole associated with this computer is in fact a privileged terminalwhich is the only one which allows ordering software and data files.Preferably teachers will also have access to the main computer overphone lines at home so that they may prepare for the next day.

The student terminals and the classroom computer need not have anassociated printer. However, a low cost printer 131, may optionally beprovided with the classroom computer and/or with individual terminals.Preferably, the connection between the classroom computer and thestudent terminals is by means of a star twisted-pair network withseparate pairs for input and output. Each student terminal is providedwith a "boot" program to permit the terminal to automatically log intothe classroom computer and to load the chosen operating system into theterminal. The system is designed such that any of the standard personalcomputer operating systems such as Apple, DOS and IBM MS/DOS can beused. In each case the operating system is modified so that, whenever adisc access is called for, the terminal will instead access theclassroom computer. The operating system used in each case is one whichwill not permit connection of a data drive and copying of any programs.

We claim:
 1. A method of distributing educational information in digitalform to a plurality of schools comprising:(a) transmitting theinformation from a central location; (b) simultaneously receiving saidinformation at a plurality of schools and storing said information; (c)subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information by aplurality of students; and (d) keeping track of usage of saidinformation and reporting back to the sender the level of usage topermit charging usage and royalty fees.
 2. The method according to claim1 wherein said information comprises computer software andcomputer-aided instructional material.
 3. The method according to claim1 comprising:(a) transmitting said material to a satellite; (b)transmitting the material from said satellite to a plurality of FMstations; and (c) retransmitting the information from said FM stationson an Subsidiary Channel Authorization (SCA) band to schools.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3 and further including:(a) assigning to eachschool an address; (b) including address information with each group ofmaterial transmitted; and decoding said address information at eachindividual school so that only schools to which said information isdirected will receive access to said information.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 4 comprising using both group and individualaddresses.
 6. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step ofproviding access by a plurality of students includes:(a) storing saidinformation in a main computer storage device in each school; (b)transferring information from said main computer storage device to aclassroom computer storage device; and (c) transferring the informationfrom the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality ofindividual student terminals.
 7. The method according to claim 1 andfurther including:(a) transmitting audio and video information; (b)receiving said audio and video information at a television receiver ateach school; and (c) storing said audio and video information on a videostorage medium and providing access to said video storage medium byindividual classrooms.
 8. The method according to claim 7 comprisingtransmitting both audio and video information and digital informationrelated to said audio and video information so as to permit interactiveviewing of said audio and video information by students.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 8 wherein said transmission of audio and videoinformation includes:(a) transmitting said audio and video informationto a satellite; (b) retransmitting the audio and video information fromsaid satellite; (c) simultaneously receiving said audio and videoinformation at a plurality of television stations; and (d)retransmitting said audio and video information to the televisionreceivers at each of said plurality of schools.
 10. The method accordingto claim 1 and further including printing selected portions of theinformation stored at said schools to provide textual material.
 11. Themethod according to claim 1 comprising continually and periodicallyupdating material.
 12. A system for distributing educational informationin digital form to a plurality of schools comprising:(a) means fortransmitting said information from a central location; (b) means forsimultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools andmeans for storing said information; (c) means for subsequently providingsimultaneous access to said information by a plurality of studentterminals; and (d) means for keeping track of usage of said informationand reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit chargingusage and royalty fees.
 13. A system according to claim 12 wherein saidinformation comprises computer software and computer-aided instructionalmaterial.
 14. A system according to claim 12 wherein said means fortransmitting includes:(a) a satellite to which information is sent forretransmission, (b) a plurality of FM stations receiving signals fromsaid satellite and retransmitting the information on an SubsidiaryChannel Authorization (SCA) band to said schools.
 15. A system accordingto claim 12 and wherein said digital information includes addressinformation and means for decoding said address information at eachindividual school so that only schools to which said information isdirected will receive access to said information.
 16. A system accordingto claim 12 wherein said means for storing comprises a main computer andmain computer storage device and said means for providing access by aplurality of students includes:(a) a classroom computer, storage deviceand teachers console receiving information from said main computer; and(b) a plurality of individual student terminals, simultaneouslyreceiving information from said classroom computer storage device.
 17. Asystem according to claim 16 wherein each terminal has its own addresswhereby electronic mail may be sent to an individual student.
 18. Asystem according to claim 12 and further including:(a) means fortransmitting audio and video information; (b) means for receiving saidaudio and video information at a television receiver at each school; and(c) means for automatically storing said audio and video information ona video storage medium and for providing access to said video storagemedium by individual classrooms without manual intervention.
 19. Asystem according to claim 18 and further including:means for advisingthe central location the number of times the video information is playedfor royalties purposes.
 20. A system according to claim 18 wherein saidmeans for transmitting audio and video information includes:(a) meansfor transmitting said audio and video information to a satellite; (b)means for retransmitting the audio and video information from saidsatellite; (c) means for simultaneously receiving said audio and videoinformation at a plurality of television stations; and (d) means forretransmitting said audio and video information to the televisionreceivers at each of said plurality of schools.
 21. A system accordingto claim 12 and further including means for printing selected portionsof the information stored at said main computer.
 22. A method ofdistributing educational information in digital form to a plurality ofschools comprising:(a) transmitting the information from a centrallocation; (b) simultaneously receiving said information at a pluralityof schools and storing said information at a central storage area ineach school; and (c) subsequently providing simultaneous access to saidstored information at a plurality of individual student terminals. 23.The method according to claim 22 and further including keeping track ofusage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level ofusage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
 24. The methodaccording to claim 22 wherein said information comprises computersoftware and computer-aided instructional material.
 25. The methodaccording to claim 22 wherein said step of providing access at aplurality of individual student terminals includes:(a) storing saidinformation in a main computer storage device in each school; (b)transferring information from said main computer storage device to aclassroom computer storage device; and (c) transferring the informationfrom the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality ofindividual student terminals.
 26. A method of distributing informationin digital form to a plurality of sites comprising:(a) transmitting theinformation from a central location; (b) simultaneously receiving saidinformation at a plurality of sites and storing said information in astorage area at each site; and (c) subsequently providing simultaneousaccess to said stored information upon request by one or more userterminals.
 27. The method according to claim 26 and further includingkeeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to thesender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees. 28.The method according to claim 26 wherein said information comprisescomputer software.
 29. The method according to claim 26 wherein saidstep of providing access by a plurality of individual user terminalsincludes:(a) storing said information in a main computer storage deviceat each site; (b) transferring information from said main computerstorage device to a further computer storage device; and (c)transferring the information from the further computer storage device toeach of a plurality of individual user terminals.
 30. A method ofdistributing information in digital form to a plurality of remote sitescomprising:(a) transmitting the information from a central location; (b)simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites andstoring said information; (c) subsequently accessing said information atsaid site; (d) keeping track of usage of said information and reportingback to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage androyalty fees.
 31. The method according to claim 30 wherein saidinformation comprises computer software.
 32. A system for distributinginformation in digital form to a plurality of sites comprising:(a) meansfor transmitting said information from a central location; (b) means forsimultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites andmeans for storing said information; (c) means for requesting access tosaid information; and (d) means for responding to said means forrequesting access by subsequently providing simultaneous access to saidinformation at a plurality of terminals.
 33. A system according to claim32 wherein said information is educational information and saidterminals are individual student terminals.
 34. A system according toclaim 33 and further including means for keeping track of usage of saidinformation and reporting back to the sender the level of usage topermit charging usage and royalty fees.
 35. A system according to claim32 and further including means for keeping track of usage of saidinformation and reporting back to the sender the level of usage topermit charging usage and royalty fees.
 36. A system according to claim32 wherein said information comprises computer software.
 37. A systemaccording to claim 33 wherein said means for storing comprises a maincomputer and main computer storage device and said means for providingaccess at a plurality of student terminals including:(a) a classroomcomputer, storage device and teachers console receiving information fromsaid main computer; and (b) a plurality of individual student terminals,simultaneously receiving information from said classroom computerstorage device.
 38. A system for distributing information in digitalform to a plurality of sites comprising:(a) means for transmitting saidinformation from a central location; (b) means for simultaneouslyreceiving said information at a plurality of sites and means for storingsaid information; (c) means for subsequently providing simultaneousaccess to said stored information at a plurality of terminals; and (d)means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting backto the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royaltyfees.
 39. A system according to claim 38 wherein said informationcomprises computer software and computer-aided instructional material.